


Early Times

by PolarGrizz47



Series: Family Ties [2]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alpha!Jack, Alpha!Yvette, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, B), Beta!Vaughn, Kid Fic, M/M, Omega!Rhys, im at it again everybody, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 18:38:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4575399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarGrizz47/pseuds/PolarGrizz47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few fluffy moments as Jack and Rhys get into the swing of parenting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Early Times

**Author's Note:**

> Man, I'm kinda falling in love with kid fics?? Dang it.  
> Anyways, unedited lol.  
> Mostly dedicated towards the early parts of Zach's life.

Jack lifted his eyes up from the tablet as Rhys sat gingerly into the couch and then slowly spread his legs out. He welcomed the younger man’s feet into his lap and ran his thumb idly up and down the Omega’s calf.

“How’re you feeling?” The CEO asked, turning his head to stare at Rhys with his one good eye. His mate pushed his hair out of his face and rested a palm over his belly with a deep sigh.

“Really, _really_ tired.” Rhys admitted before adjusting a pillow beneath his head. “What’re you reading? I thought you were done working.”

The older man tutted and shook his head. “There is no such thing as ‘done working’ when you run a company… but I uh… not really working. Researching, you know?” He gently rubbed at Rhys’ knobby knees with one hand, and scrolled down on the tablet with the other.

Rhys raised a brow and smiled sweetly at him. “Are you looking up baby things again?” He gave a pointed nod to the stack of baby books that Jack had acquired and the Alpha gave a somewhat sheepish smile.

“I just – I want to be _prepared_.” Jack found himself flushing for some unknown reason, and he chalked it up for being tired. “Me and you – we’re going to be _raising_ a little kiddo,” He ground his teeth together and huffed out a breath. “I want to be a good parent. I don’t want to end up like my grandmother - ”

Rhys sat up slowly and wrapped an arm around his Alpha’s shoulder to pull him down into a hug. “Hey,” He soothed quietly, running a hand through the man’s graying hair. “You’re going to be the best dad ever, Jack. You’re not going to end up like her, okay? I _know_ you.” He kissed the older man’s temple when Jack nodded and then gently pried Jack’s hand off his knee to press it to his chest. “I love you.”

Jack sucked in a breath and nodded, fingers squeezing into the material of Rhys’ blouse to pull the man softly into a kiss. “Love you too, kitten.”

-:-

Yvette sat in the hospital room with them, her eyes concentrated on the little baby curled up in her arms as she rocked him back and forth in the chair provided. “He’s absolutely beautiful,” She said at last, lifting her gaze up to the exhausted Omega as he lay in the bed.

Rhys’ lips quirked up a little and he nodded silently, his body slumped into Jack’s presence besides him. The Alpha was watching Yvette with what could only be described by his parental instinct, and he only allowed her to hold Zachary because he knew she was capable and calm.

Yvette was a force to be reckoned with if you ever ended up on her bad side, and Rhys had pulled her away from people as she threatened to drag them up and down with more than her words. Even Jack had been impressed when they toed off over a little discrepancy, both of their Alpha instincts rearing their heads before the shorter Beta had popped in to cool them both down.

He knew that she was going to make for an _interesting_ auntie.

“Have you guys got everything you need?” She questioned, standing up carefully and slowly to deposit the sleeping child into Jack’s awaiting arms. The older man coddled him close and Rhys reached out to run his fingers over the silky smooth yellow blanket they’d been given.

The Omega’s voice was light and a little hoarse as he whispered, “Yeah – we packed a bag.”

She nodded in understanding and then glanced down to Rhys’ metallic arm, noticing how the normally blue button was now a warning orange. “Even your charger?” Yvette smirked a little when Rhys blinked and then groaned.

“No,” He sighed at last, giving his fingers a testing squeeze, and sure enough he could feel the delay thanks to the depleted battery. Jack shifted the kid in his hands, looking torn as he moved to stand.

“You know what – I remember where you keep it. I could go run up there?” Yvette offered, and Jack shook his head.

“Codes our fingerprints,” He explained before moving to place Zach in the Omega’s caring hands. “Won’t open up without an override card – _oh_ ,” He paused and Rhys grinned at him. “Think I actually got that in my wallet…”

Mismatched eyes landed on her and she crossed her arms proudly. “Alright, hand it over and I’ll be back in a pinch.”

Jack hesitated as he reached into his jean pocket and Yvette batted her eyelashes at him teasingly. “Oh please, what am I going to do? Steal from the never-ending mound of kid stuff you have in the nursery?”

“It’s not a _mound_ ,” Jack grouched as he flipped open his worn, leather wallet and plucked out a simple black card. “It’s all organized _now_.”

Yvette took it from him carefully and flashed the Omega a smile. “It was a mound, wasn’t it Rhys?”

The tall man chuckled quietly as he reached into the blanket and watched while Zach’s tiny hand curled around his finger instinctively. “Yeah, Jack, it was _kind of_ a mound at first.”

The Alpha huffed and then waved Yvette off when Rhys’ arm gave a warning beep, announcing the battery at 25%.

-:-

The spent the first few days in that hospital room, taking turns getting used to feeding with a bottle and reading over any material they could get their hands on through Rhys’ echonet. Jack spent a large amount of time leaning against Rhys while the Omega cooed at their baby.

Vaughn came in at odd intervals and dropped off lunch that _wasn’t_ from the hospital, and took turns holding him with Yvette to get used to the newborn. The Beta looked absolutely tickled when Zach held onto the tip of his finger and let out a little gurgle. “Awe – bro, look, he likes me.”

Rhys laughed a little as he pulled a sweater over his shoulder. “Of course he does – you’re like family, bro.”

Jack sometimes still couldn’t help but to slap a hand to his face and chuckle along with Yvette at the odd ‘bro’ dynamic between the friends.

“ _Bruuuhhh_ ,” The two Alphas would snicker to each other quietly whenever Rhys and Vaughn got into a really nerdy conversation about their weird documentaries.

-:-

The first few days back in their home were easy and calm, but Jack did have to move the crib into their room during the first nights. Neither he nor Rhys could stand to be less than ten feet from their child at any given moment.

Jack had problems taking off his mask during that time, and claimed that he didn’t want to scare Zach thanks to his heavy scarring. Rhys had gently pressed kisses to his brow and promised him that Zach wouldn’t be scared – and tried to reason that the child was going to see them at some point.

The Alpha held his ground for a few days before finally agreed. Rhys was right, after all. He couldn’t hide forever now.

The first time he held Zach in his arms without his mask was during some dumb movie Rhys was obsessed with, something about singing aliens, as they sat there on the large couch comfortably.

Zach let out a little babbling sound as he was shifted into Jack’s arms, and Rhys leaned forwards cautiously. He could sense the nervousness radiating off Jack, knowing that the Alpha was prepared for an outburst and fearful tantrum.

Instead, as their son opened up his tiny eyes and waved his tiny hands, Zach fell into utter silence, his eyes wide and curious as he took in the deep, blue scar branded onto his father’s face. Jack held his breath while the kid reached one little chubby hand out, and then allowed Zach to touch at it.

He couldn’t really feel it, not anymore. The skin was firm there, cauterized in some areas and glowing in others.

The child let out a little chirp, and then patted senselessly at Jack’s cheek as if to try and understand the marking’s before he let out a deep yawn and snuggled into the CEO’s chest.

Jack let out his breath carefully and smiled very softly. “Guess it wasn’t that bad,” He said at last, grinning wider when Rhys pressed a kiss against his scarred cheek.

“Told you he wouldn’t be scared.” The Omega mumbled before cuddling up into his side and turning his mismatched eyes onto the widescreen.

-:-

When Zach was eight month’s old, he was always on the move. Crawling this way, and then the next, moving over rugs and smooth wood without a fuss. He also tried to get into everything, and Jack had to reinforce a few cupboards and drawers with safety locks.

He babbled at them nonstop and pouted whenever Rhys set him in the highchair for some snacks. Zach liked bananas a lot, and Jack always tried his best to bring them home, but the yellow fruit went surprisingly fast on Helios. He’d scowl at any cereal Rhys offered, much to the Omega’s amusement, and only seemed to eat pureed vegetables and fruits along with his milk.

Jack would sit back in the couch and watch while Zach tried to fit his toys into the slots, the randomly shaped objects falling into one another. Sometimes, he’d have to encourage Zach to play with a toy that didn’t sing every second of so, and really, he had to ask Yvette to stop bringing them the noisy ones.

Whenever Jack needed a break from all the toy clattering, he’d scoop up Zach into his lap and pull out one of the textured baby books they’d bought. He and Rhys didn’t want Zach cooped up with only the TV to keep him entertained, so they read to him instead to give everybody a little breather.

Rhys sometimes found himself leaning against the couch to listen to the older man’s soothing reading, watching while his son curiously reached out to touch and investigate the patterns all over the books.

“And the caterpillar crawled up, and up and up,” Jack intoned carefully, sure to pronounce every syllable correctly while Zach chirped and patted all over the book and his hands. “All the way to the top of the tree.”

Rhys braced his hands on either side of Jack’s shoulders on the back of the couch, finding himself also enjoying the read, even if he’s heard it before once or twice. It was one of Zach’s favorite books. He watched with a carefree smile on his features as Zach tried to dedicate his attention between the book and his father’s unmasked face.

“And when he got to the very top, do you know what he did?” Jack asked, looking down in his lap as Zach blinked his big, golden eyes back up at him. “He found the biggest leaf…” Jack opened his mouth to mimic the text, before making an overly dramatic chomping motion, “And he took a big ‘ol bite out of it!” One of his fingers carefully tickled into Zach’s socked feet to make the kid squeal and giggle at him excitedly.

Rhys chuckled above him and Jack tipped his head back to indulge himself in a little upside down kiss. The Omega pressed their lips together slowly and then ran his fingers gently through the top of Jack’s styled hair. “A big ‘ol bite, huh?” The lithe man whispered as they shared another kiss and Jack let out a low hum of agreement before tipping his head back down to watch as Zach proudly burbled at them, his little chubby finger on the picture of the big oak tree.

Jack tilted his head at him curiously before tapping the picture as well. “Tree, Zach.” He explained, watching while his son seemed to chew on the word.

Later on, as they sat down for dinner and Rhys cut up some strained broccoli for them, Zach pointed at the little green top and suddenly chirped, “ _Twee_!”

Both of them paused and exchanged a surprised glance before Jack’s face broke out into a happy grin, “That’s right,” He started, feeling a silly giddiness rise in his heart, “Tree.”

Rhys laughed and handed his son a smaller piece to chew on while saving this moment to memory. He loved the proud smile on Jack’s face and the warm, bubbly feeling in his chest as Zach waved at them both while confidently cooing.

For some reason, his son’s first words being ‘ _twee’_ was more endearing than ‘pa-pa’ could ever be.

**Author's Note:**

> Zach has ruined me.
> 
> Hope you liked!!
> 
> I might try drawing Zach later but babies are like??? How???


End file.
